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Politics & Policy

Finish your ballot this weekend: What to know about your June propositions

A participant holds a ballot at a rally to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin at Portsmouth Square on Friday, May 28, 2021 in San Francisco, Calif. | Paul Kuroda for The Standard

Next week’s primary election is the third heat in our quadrathlon election year, and it’s going to be one of the bigger ones with contests for a wide range of state and federal offices, plus San Francisco City Attorney. (Recently appointed incumbent David Chiu is running unopposed.)

SF voters also face eight local ballot measures: a bond, two charter amendments, four ordinances and a recall. All pose significant policy choices, some more complicated than others. Apart from the District Attorney recall, which comes to voters by petition, all of these measures landed on the ballot by a majority of the Board of Supervisors. 

$400 Million for Getting Around: The Bond Measure 

Proposition A would drum up $400 Million to repair and upgrade Muni’s transit system and improve street safety and traffic signals.

    DBI and Recall Reform: The Charter Amendments

    Proposition B aims to bolster oversight of the Department of Building Inspection, the focus of recent corruption scandals

      Proposition C adds time restraints on petitions to recall elected officials, shrinking the available window to eight-and-a-half months in the second year of office. Additionally, any appointed replacement for a recalled official would be barred from running for election.

        A New Crime Agency, Fundraising Rules, Garbage Rates, Sick Leave: The Ordinances

        Recology trucks park in a large designated space on Jan. 31, 2022. | Camille Cohen

          Proposition E is meant to crack down on corruption by tightening rules for when public officials solicit donations for a preferred charity.

            Proposition F would change how the city regulates trash-hauling costs. It would reorganize the Refuse Rate Board and move responsibility for monitoring and proposing rates from the Director of Public Works to the Controller. Future changes to this law could be enacted by the Board of Supervisors

              Proposition G would essentially make permanent an emergency ordinance adopted during the height of Covid which requires larger private employers to provide two weeks of paid public health emergency leave. Companies with less than 100 workers are exempt. 

                DA Recall: The Main Event

                San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin attends at a We Wear Orange weekend rally against gun violence hosted by United Playaz hosted in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard

                Proposition H would oust District Attorney Chesa Boudin, allowing Mayor London Breed to appoint his replacement. 

                  Each side argues that the other is promoted by special interests. Campaign finance issues around the recall have been subjected to significant scrutiny and debate.